THE Tembari Children's Care (TCC) Inc is a day care facility at ATS Oro Settlement, 7-Mile, outside of Port Moresby, PNG. To date, it takes care of more than 200 former street children - orphans, abandoned and the unfortunate - by serving them meals twice a day, and providing them early education. Assistance - food and money - is sent by supporters who find merit in the services we provide to these children. At The Center, they are family. For all of these, we need support that is sustainable.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Friends chip in for rice donation

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZA Friend of Tembari Children

IT’S A GOOD feeling to receive something that you actually expected beforehand because you believe people are generous, but did not know from whom it would be this time.

A troika of friends had chipped in their extra pocket money and bought the Tembari children 13 bags (10kg) of Roots Rice. Costing nearly K500 (US$170), the foodstuff was delivered to me last week.

I did not expect such donation to come from them. But I knew they read my blog (www.tembari.blogspot.com) on the prospect of food shortage at The Center, which had worried me quite a bit.

And they responded generously.

Our new benefactors – Filipino expats Tony, Dhes and Jocelyn – all from HiTron, the cable-TV provider – said in an email the food would help relieve the pressure from low rice stock at The Center, which was the case until yesterday when I delivered the goodies to The Center.

Tony said in his email: “We know this is just a small thing ... how we wish we could have sent more …!”

But as I had said in my earlier blog, in the spirit of helping, nothing is too small to help. Coming from the heart, any amount or quantity will always assume a great bulk, a great volume.

Over the last eight months, a number of people sent small, but became big somehow because it assured our beneficiary children of food in their tummy everyday.

And even without them saying it, I knew they really appreciated it, based on the looks in their faces every after burp they made after every meal.

The 13 bags of rice will cover 13 feeding days, just long enough to connect to the next food delivery this month from donors.

The Center cooks rice for the 97 beneficiary children at the rate of 10kg a day.

But since we have seven volunteer parents who work at The Center to look after the daily feeding session, an extra two kilos is usually cooked for them.

As I have said on occasions, we also have to take care of those who take care of us. So, the extra 2kgs -- equivalent to a bag of 10kg every week, for a total of four bags in a month.

Of course, this goes with a side dish of say, tinned fish or veggies, which is also an expense as far as The Center’s finances are concerned.

THE BLOGGER

ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ, A Friend of Tembari Children. Blogger APH came to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 1993 to join The National newspaper as one of its pioneering journalists. Working as Executive Sub Editor, he has remained with the daily, now the country’s No. 1 newspaper, up to these days. He has been a journalist since his university days in Manila back in the late 60s. APH’s involvement with the Tembari children began in January 2010 after he discovered them at a Christmas party for the city’s 500 unfortunate children held at the Botanical Garden in Port Moresby. That day, he was chasing a story for The National, which happened to be that of the unfortunate children in the city. His self-appointed job for Tembari children composed of orphaned, abandoned, neglected and unfortunate children is to look for people and groups who could provide them food, money, health services and facilities necessary to create positive changes in their lives. This job is difficult, but what the heck …!

(Our sponsored Saturday lunch for the 200 Tembari kids costs only K250.00 per sponsor (we usually have two), which covers a special meat (fish or chicken) dish, veggies, steamed rice and cordial drink. The Saturday lunch needs at least two sponsors. Some had given more, allowing us to give the kids a generous heap of the day’s lunch. A rare bonus to the sponsors, along with the bricks they earn each time, is that I personally cook the dish, giving it a personal touch. And as they earn a brick, each of our benefactors also earn a passage into the heart of the Tembari kids, which is also a prepaid ticket to Heaven.)